


Groundhog Day

by OldWomanJosie



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-11
Updated: 2015-02-11
Packaged: 2018-03-11 22:49:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3335687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OldWomanJosie/pseuds/OldWomanJosie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tom Paris lives through a normal Febuary 2nd. Over and over and over.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_Chakotay to Paris._

Tom Paris moaned and reached over to where his comm badge sat on the bedside table. He slapped it irritably and snapped, "Paris here, what?" A split second after he said it, he thought he probably shouldn't have, but oh well.

_Do you have any idea what time it is?_

"Uh, too early?" He could hear muffled giggling in the background and he dropped his head back onto his pillow. "Tell me I'm not on bridge-wide?"

_It's thirty minutes past the beginning of your shift, Lieutenant. You're late._

Janeway's voice. Yep, he was on bridge-wide. "I'll be right there, Paris out." Tom hopped out of bed and dressed quickly. This was the third time he'd overslept this week. Too many late nights with Harrry down at Sandrine's. Or with the Delaney sisters elsewhere. Chakotay had threatened to put him on report if it happened again. "Third strike, you're out, Paris," Tom quoted the first officer glumly as he pulled on his boots and charged out the door.

He ran smack into a young science crewman who was passing outside his door. They both tumbled to the ground. "Oh gosh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. Here, you okay?" he asked, getting up and extending his hand to help her to her feet. The pretty blonde gathered the padds she'd been carrying and pulled herself up.

"I'm fine, Lieutenant. Sorry about that." She smiled at him and walked on. Paris grinned and catalogued her face for later. He was free Saturday night. Maybe she'd like to accompany him to Sandrine's. But no time for that now, the bridge was waiting!

Tom got there in record time and assumed his station. "Sorry I'm late," he apologized. Janeway gave him a long-suffering smile and Chakotay fixed him with a look. But no one else commented and business proceeded as usual aboard the Starship Voyager.

* * *

 

Tom Paris manned his post until 1200. Nothing very interesting happened that day; they'd catalogued a few new stars, one anomaly, and bookmarked a nearby M-class planet for a possible resupplying point when they got close enough to it. He was relieved early because the Doctor had insisted that he come in for a follow-up appointment.

Three days ago, Tom had been involved in a minor accident while working on the Delta Flyer. The hangar had become flooded with chroniton radiation, but fortunately it seemed to have had no adverse affects on the ship or the pilot. But the Doctor wanted to make absolutely sure and Janeway had agreed that it was better safe than sorry.

As the EMH scanned him over with the medical tricorder, Tom chatted with Kes about everything under the sun. As expected, the Doctor proclaimed him fully healthy. Tom smiled in relief and hopped off the biobed. He bid farewell to the Doctor, who said a vague goodbye as he turned his attention to some vials on the table.

He waved goodbye to Kes and she waved back with a bright smile. But she stopped midwave and gave him a funny look. Tom turned back to her and asked, "Kes? What's wrong?" She shook her head absently. "Nothing. I just got a weird feeling... I don't know." Her smile came back and she gave an apologetic shrug. "I doesn't matter, I'm sorry." Tom shrugged and waved again on his way out the door.

Tom mentioned Kes' funny turn to Neelix when he stopped by the mess hall for lunch. The Talaxian handed his leola root stew across the counter and said, "You know Kes has some telepathic ability. Maybe she sensed something about you, something that'll happen soon."

"What, like dying?" Tom said sarcastically as he tucked in to his stew. When Neelix didn't immediately laugh or respond, Tom glanced up at him. The cook looked thoughtful. "Neelix? She can't do that, can she?"

"I don't know, Lieutenant. I just don't know."

* * *

 

After lunch, Tom did some fine-tuning on the Delta Flyer's navigational controls until Harry Kim got off duty as well. Then they walked down to Sandrine's together. They were off to continue their ongoing pool tournament, which Harry was losing badly. Best out of thirty games, and so far the score was 15-5, Paris.

"I don't understand how you keep doing that," Kim muttered as Tom sank the eight ball in the left side pocket, winning their first game of the night. "You're ridiculous."

"Practice, Harry. Loads of practice," Tom smirked as he chalked his cue. Harry rolled his eyes and racked the balls for a second game. Tom heard a new batch of officers come through the doors and turned to see who they were. B'Elanna and Tuvok were among them and Tom waved them over. "Tuvok, B'Elanna! Join us. Championship game, what do you say? Harry's losing anyway." Kim made an annoyed noise, but made no move to disagree.

The engineer and the tactical officer agreed and the game commenced. Tuvok stated from the start that this game would not be all that difficult for him, as it was simple geometry. B'Elanna agreed. It's only vectors, how hard can it be? It proved to be more difficult than expected for Torres. She lost first to Tuvok, then to Harry, much to Tom's amusement and Torres' chagrin. Tom, of course, beat Harry, which meant that Tuvok and Tom were the last ones standing for the final challenge.

"The ball will start here," Tuvok predicted, pointing with one long finger, "ricochet off this end," he gestured to the far end of the pool table, "and the left side before knocking the fifteen ball into the left side pocket and coming to rest in the corner pocket." Tom laughed, because that was ridiculous, no one could call a shot like that.

Tuvok very calmly took up his cue, positioned himself, and knocked the cue ball into the thirteen ball, which followed the exact flight pattern Tuvok had delineated. Tom's jaw dropped. Tuvok said smugly, "I believe this makes me the champion, Mister Paris." Tom Paris, for once in his life, was speechless.

* * *

 

After that completely humiliating run at the pool table, Tom bowed out of the rest of the night in favor of maybe getting some decent sleep for the first time this week. When he entered his quarters, he had a message waiting for him. From Chakotay, he saw. Which meant that it was trouble. He opened it reluctantly and read the note. "You've gotta be kidding me!"

He ran out into hallway and ran right into the man himself. "Chakotay!" The Indian man raised an eyebrow at the angry outburst and Paris backed up. "Commander," he started again, more politely. "What is this?" He brandished the padd accusingly.

The first officer took it and glanced over it. "Oh. Your curfew." He made as if to go past Tom, but Paris stepped in his way.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Apparently you haven't been getting enough sleep lately. Making it mandatory for you to be in your quarters by a certain hour ensures you get plenty of rest." Chakotay smiled that annoying little smile that made Tom just want to clobber him.

"But a curfew? For crying out loud, Chakotay, I'm not twelve!"

"Then try acting like it!" Chakotay snapped, side-stepping around the conn officer and disappearing down the hall.

Seething and cursing to himself, Tom stalked back into his quarters. His instincts said to run, to get out of his quarters and do something crazy, just to prove to Chakotay that he didn't tell Thomas Eugene Paris when to go to bed. "You're not my father," Tom ground out at the door.

But his body had different ideas and Tom realized that yes, he really did need to get some sleep. So, grudgingly, he did just that. He got ready for bed and slipped between his sheets a good three hours earlier than he had on any other night that week. He settled contentedly and sighed. He'd get revenge on Chakotay tomorrow.

* * *

 

_Chakotay to Paris._

"Huh?"


	2. Chapter 2

_Do you have any idea what time it is?_

Tom sat up in his bed and stretched lazily. "Guess your curfew idea didn't work as well as you thought, huh, Chakotay?" He felt a smug smile spread over his face as he hopped out of bed and started dressing quickly.

_My...what?_

Chakotay's voice sounded genuinely confused, which pulled Tom up short. He gave his comm badge a funny look. "You know, the cur- You know what? Never mind, I'm on my way. Paris out." Tom shook his head and finished pulling on his uniform. Chakotay had been pretty self-satisfied last night; it was weird that he'd act like he didn't know what was up. Maybe he'd acted without Janeway's consent and didn't want her to know. "Too bad," he muttered.

* * *

 

Tom assumed his post on the bridge, ignoring Chakotay's look. He'd meet with Captain Janeway and talk to her about her first officer just as soon as he went off duty later today. Harry called over, "Tom, we've been doing some scans on a star we're passing. I'm sending you the telemetry now."

Paris nodded acknowledgment back at his best friend and looked down at his console. To his surprise, it showed a binary star. He checked over the readings twice before speaking up. "Harry, is this a joke?"

"What?" Kim looked at him askance. "No."

"We've done this."

Harry shook his head slowly. "No, we haven't."

"Yes, we have. We scanned and catalogued this star yesterday."

"Tom, we've never been through here before."

"Perhaps you are experiencing _deja vu_ ," offered Tuvok helpfully.

Tom looked back down at his panel and shook his head in denial. "No, I'm serious, we've physically been here and done this. This star, it was the first one we scanned yesterday. Same coordinates, same readings, it's the exact same star!"

Janeway came over to stand behind him and checked over the readings. "You're sure, Tom?"

"Yes!" Paris said. "Positive."

"Then why isn't it in the database?" Harry asked. Everyone turned to look at him and he tapped his board. "I just looked. No such record."

"But..." Tom's face fell. The captain smiled at him kindly, but he could tell she didn't believe him.

"Sorry, Tom, but it looks like Harry's right. We've never been here."

Paris felt entirely confused, but accepted that he could have had some kind of weird premonition. He was just starting to believe that he'd been wrong when Harry commented on a brown dwarf nearby that looked like it merited scanning. Tom turned in his seat to stare at him again.

"At coordinates 227 mark 159?" Kim checked his console, then looked up at him.

"Yeah."

Tom slapped his console in triumph. "I knew it! We have been here before! That's the second of the three stars we catalogued yesterday." The entire bridge was staring as he went on. "The third one was a red giant that Tuvok thought would go nova in the next decade or so."

All eyes went to Tuvok, who calmly did a scan before reporting: "There is such a star in the immediate area."

Janeway stepped back over to Tom. "What else did we do yesterday, Lieutenant?" Tom thought about it.

"There was a nebula. A really big nebula in the same system as the brown dwarf that you thought looked interesting. But we couldn't explore it because the gasses and radiation inside would melt the duranium off our hull." Janeway looked up to Harry, who confirmed everything Paris had said.

"But we haven't been through this sector of space before, Captain, I'm sure of it," added the young ensign.

"Recalibrate the sensor array, check for malfunctions." The captain turned and fixed Tom with a curious stare. "Meanwhile, Mr. Paris, I think you'd better get down to sickbay."

* * *

 

The Doctor ran the medical tricorder over and around Tom's body while the pilot fidgeted impatiently. Janeway and Chakotay looked on in silence. Finally the hologram closed the tricorder and reported, "Mr. Paris is in excellent health. There's no evidence of delusions of any kind, and physically he's fit as a fiddle."

"So he's telling the truth," the captain said slowly. "He really did live through this day already."

The Doctor nodded brightly. "That would seem to be the case. And I think I might even have the why."

Janeway cocked her head to the side. "Explain."

The Doctor beckoned her over. "Remember the accident Mr. Paris got himself into a few days ago?" He showed her Tom's scans.

The captain snapped her fingers. "Of course! The chroniton radiation!" She gazed at Tom as if she could see the residual radiation on him. "The chronitons did something to make him move forward in time by one day."

"We could scan for subspace anomalies, anything that would trigger that kind of reaction," Chakotay suggested. At Janeway's nod, the first officer tapped his comm badge and spoke quietly to the bridge.

Kes approached Tom and looked at him closely. The helmsman said, "You know, you did that yesterday. Looked at me like that. You said you got a weird feeling."

"I'm getting a weird feeling now," admitted Kes. "It must have something to do with the time displacement. The way you were thrown forward one day." She smiled at him. "It must be strange, living the same day over again."

"Yeah," Tom sighed. "Just a little."

* * *

 

Paris was allowed to remain off-duty, so he wandered down to the hangar to re-fiddle with the Delta Flyer's navigational controls. But to his surprise the controls were exactly as he'd left them yesterday. He got a hunch and scanned around with a tricorder. Sure enough, the Flyer still held residual chronitons. "So you must've been thrown too," Tom murmured to the ship, patting the bulkhead fondly.

Tom met Harry for pool at Sandrine's and, predictably, beat him again. "You know, it's not fair," said Harry. "If you know what's going to happen, then you have an unfair advantage."

"I have an unfair advantage any time I play you," Tom replied cheekily. The doors breezed open behind them and Paris called, "Tuvok! B'Elanna! Come here and grab a cue, play a few games with us." The two aliens wandered over with bemused looks.

"How did you know-" B'Elanna started, then caught Harry's eye. The ensign twirled a finger around his ear, indicating that Paris was cuckoo. Torres nodded and snatched up a cue. "You're on, Paris."

The four of them played a championship. Tom did his best to not play as he had yesterday and the games did come out a little differently. But still it was Tuvok that faced down Tom Paris at the last game for the win. The Vulcan opened his mouth to call his shot, but Tom held up a hand.

"Tuvok, just do it." The security chief raised an eyebrow, but did as he was told. Tom caught Harry's eye and mutely pointed out the path the ball would travel. Kim had just started laughing at Paris' prediction when Tuvok's ball followed Tom's track precisely. Harry's mouth hung open as Tom and Tuvok said in unison:

"I believe this makes me the champion, Mister Paris." Tom rolled his eyes and laughed ruefully. "Yeah, yeah it does."

* * *

 

Tom Paris stayed late at Sandrine's; partly to redeem himself by soundly beating Tuvok at two consecutive games of pool and partly because he didn't want to have to read Chakotay's curfew note when he got back to his quarters. When he finally did head back, the note was there waiting for him.

He took one look at the padd, then deleted the message without looking at it and threw the padd onto the couch. Then Tom realized he'd forgotten to talk to the captain about the curfew. It'd completely slipped his mind, what with it being deja vu day and all.

Tom got into bed with a weary sigh and huddled under the covers sleepily. He'd talk to Captain Janeway tomorrow, when he had a fresh day to work with instead of the same one he'd already been through once. He fell asleep thinking about just what he'd have to say to her about her arrogant first officer.

* * *

 

_Chakotay to Paris._

"WHAT?!"


	3. Chapter 3

_Mr. Paris, are you all right?_

That was the captain. Oh right, he was on bridge-wide. "I'm fine, Captain. I just... What's the date?"

_The date?_

"The stardate, what's the stardate?" He could hear the puzzlement in her tone, but Tom was having a hard time feeling sorry for her. If he was right (and for once he really hated that he was)...

_Stardate 2105.3_

Tuvok's calm voice did little to relax Tom's nerves. The helmsman gave a wordless shout of frustration. Janeway spoke again.

_Lieutenant, is everything alright down there?_

"Fine, Captain. Just... just hunky-dory. I'll be up in a minute." He closed the channel and got out of bed slowly, trying to come to grips with the fact that he was living the same day for an unbelievable third time.

"It can't be," he chanted as he pulled on his uniform. "Can't be, can't be. Stuff like this just doesn't happen." As soon as he said that, he knew it was stupid. This was the USS Voyager, trapped in the Delta Quadrant 70,000 lightyears (give or take) from home. Stuff like this happened all the time. But a time loop, that was new.

"Strange new experiences," Tom groused. "I just don't get why it has to happen to me."

* * *

 

Tom Paris walked onto the bridge and announced, "I'm stuck in a time loop." Everybody turned to stare at him quizzically. Tom ignored them and walked down to his post. As he walked, he went down the list of things that would happen that day as everyone listened in shock.

"Right now we're scanning a binary star. Next we'll take a look at a brown dwarf and a nebula that will fry Voyager if we get near it. After that, a red giant that's about to go nova." He looked around at everyone's stunned expressions and said apologetically, "Then I don't know what else happens because that's when I go down to sickbay so the Doctor can poke at me and tell me I'm in perfect health."

There was a long beat, then Captain Janeway stood slowly. "Ensign?" she asked Harry. The ensign nodded to her: everything Paris had just said was correct. She blinked at Tom, who blinked back at her. "A time loop?" she asked finally.

"Yeah," Tom said tiredly, falling into his chair at the helm. "That's the most likely explanation, since this is the third time we've lived this day."

"Why doesn't anybody realize it except you?" asked Chakotay. Paris smiled at him.

"Good question, Chakotay. The answer is the accident I had last week. Chroniton radiation." Janeway nodded in understanding.

"Of course! The concentration of chronitons must make you exempt from whatever's causing this." She whirled to Harry. "Ensign, run a detailed scan of this area, see if you can find anything to explain the time loop. And Mr. Paris," she added, turning to Tom again.

"I know," he said, getting up and walking toward the door. "I'd better get down to sickbay. No point though. The Doc's not going to find anything. I'm in excellent health."

* * *

 

"Mr. Paris is in excellent health," said the EMH, snapping the tricorder shut decisively. "There's no evidence of delusions of any kind, and physically he's fit as a fiddle." Tom nodded, mouthing along with the Doctor's words. The hologram caught him doing it and glared at him in annoyance. "Stop that!"

Tom grinned at him and Janeway closed her eyes so that no one would see her roll them. "Mr. Paris, the Temporal Prime Directive keeps you from saying anything about future events, but I have to know: Does anything happen on this day that might be a catalyst for this kind of looping?" Tom shrugged.

"Nothing weird or life-threatening happened- happens -at all. Which is strange for this ship in the first place," he commented wryly, earning a smile from the captain. Her comm badge chirped and she turned aside to answer the hail.

Kes approached Tom and he held up a hand. "You're getting a weird feeling, I know. It's throwing your telepathy for a loop, this time thing." He chuckled at his bad pun and Kes laughed along. Tom patted her shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll get out of it soon. Harry's scanning for whatever's causing it and we'll get out of range..."

Captain Janeway interrupted Tom's reassurance. "Ensign Kim has completed his scans of the area. There doesn't seem to be anything even remotely close to us that could be causing this kind of repetition." Kes looked up at Tom, who offered an apologetic smile in return.

"We'll keep looking," promised Chakotay. "There has to be something we're missing." Janeway opened her mouth, but Tom beat her to the order.

"Recalibrating and troubleshooting the sensors won't turn up anything, everything's in perfect working order."

Janeway smirked. "Do it anyway, Commander," she said to Chakotay. "Mr. Paris, you and I will go down to engineering. B'Elanna can tune the sensors there to pick up things they would normally miss."

* * *

 

Paris spent the rest of the day with Torres and Janeway in engineering, making every imaginable change to the sensor array. They found all kinds of interesting phenomena, but nothing that would explain this day's triple feature. Finally Janeway sat back and rubbed her eyes tiredly. "We'd better call it a day, people. Get some rest and..." She looked up at Tom in amusement. "I was going to say we'll start work again in the morning, but we'll have forgotten everything we've worked on, won't we?"

Tom nodded ruefully. "Probably." He looked over at B'Elanna, who was resolutely tapping away at yet another sensor modification. He went to her and covered her eyes with his hands.

"Get your hands off me, Paris, I've got work to do," she snapped irritably. He removed his hands, but talked to her coaxingly.

"Come on, B'Elanna. The captain said call it a day. So call it a day and come down to Sandrine's with Harry and me. We'll have a pool championship with Tuvok, what do you say?" She turned to look at him, leaning back against the console with her arms crossed.

"Did we do that on the other two loops?" Tom grinned at her.

"We sure did, and you even had fun."

"Did I win?"

Paris looked down and away uncomfortably. "Ah, well, yeah, about that. Um, Temporal Prime Directive, can't tell you anything about that..." The engineer laughed at his embarrassment and headed for the door.

"Okay, Starfleet, you've convinced me. I lose, but it's fun. I'm sold."

* * *

 

Tom intentionally lost to B'Elanna, just to make her feel better. She knew he'd done it, but didn't call him on it. Nonetheless, the ultimate showdown was still between the Vulcan and the helmboy. As Tuvok lined up for his last shot, Tom quoted: "The ball will start here, ricochet off this end and the left side before knocking the fifteen ball into the left side pocket and coming to rest in the corner pocket."

Tuvok gave him a look, then made his shot. Tom nodded in satisfaction as the colored balls went flying along the table in the exact pattern he'd predicted. "I believe this makes me the champion, Mister Paris," said Tuvok.

"You know, since you've technically played this tournament twice before, you have an unfair advantage," B'Elanna pointed out.

"I lost to you, didn't I?" Tom teased. "Trust me, I'm doing my best to change things up a little every time. But no matter what I do, Tuvok wins the championship. I guess it's just inevitable." Tuvok inclined his head as if to say 'I'm just that good' and everyone laughed.

* * *

 

But Tom Paris wasn't laughing when after a week's worth of loops a solution was still yet to be found. Every single turn left Tom right back where he started: Waking up late for his duty shift with Chakotay's voice in his ear asking where he was.

After yet another day of fruitless work, Harry and Tom sat talking at the bar in Sandrine's, watching B'Elanna clean Carey's clock at pool. "You know what I'd do if I was stuck in a time loop?" said Harry thoughtfully.

"Harry, you are stuck in a time loop."

The ops officer rolled his eyes at his friend. "Okay, I mean, if I knew. If I knew that nobody but me would remember that we were going around in circles."

Tom laughed and played along, asking eagerly, "Tell us, oh wise one. What would you do?"

"I'd do something crazy." Tom tilted his head in curiousity as Harry went on. "If everyone's going to forget everything that happened on the last loop, you could do anything you wanted..." He trailed off when he saw the gleam lighting up Paris' eyes.

"I gotta go, Harry, I'll see you tomorrow." The lieutenant hopped off the bar stool and ran out the door. B'Elanna joined Harry at the bar just in time to catch the tail end of the helmsman's retreat.

"What was that all about? Where's he going in such a hurry?" She looked to Harry, who was sitting there with a stunned and slightly guilty expression on his face.

"B'Elanna, I think I just made a really big mistake."


	4. Chapter 4

_Chakotay to Paris._

Tom Paris rolled over and snatched up the offending badge. In one smooth motion he turned and tossed it into the waste reclamation alcove, which dematerialized it neatly. Grinning, Tom bounced out of bed. Today was the day he took Harry Kim's advice. Today was the day he got crazy!

Tom had made a list of everything he wanted to do. He entered it into the Delta Flyer's chroniton-laced computer so he wouldn't have to recreate it every time the day turned over. After all, as Harry said, no one would remember, so he could feasibly get away with murder. Hmmm... He briefly fantasized about shoving Chakotay's curfew letter down his throat, but decided quickly that that was taking things a little too far. He had time to kill, though, and he would use it to the best of his ability. Tom checked over the list and smiled broadly. "This is going to be fun," he said to himself.

* * *

 

_One: Date every single girl on the ship at least once._

"Not tonight, Tom, I've got to work," pleaded Kes half-heartedly. Tom turned on his puppy eyes and boyish charm and coaxed, "Come on, just a couple hours?"

The Ocampa looked up and smiled. "Neelix." Tom scoffed. "What about Neelix? He'll never-" A voice from behind him froze Tom in his tracks.

"Step away from my darling, Mr. Paris. I have a frying pan and I'm not afraid to use it."

  
"Paris, I already told you no, so get out before I throw you out!" growled B'Elanna. Tom took two steps back from the frustrated Klingon. He didn't doubt that she could physically throw him out of her domain. "I will return for you, my sweet, never fear!" he said heroically before beating a hasty retreat. He heard rather than saw the hyperspanner that hit the wall where his head had been.

  
"Lieutenant, you're out of line!" said Janeway. She had her hands planted firmly on her hips with her best stern face directed squarely at Tom. But a smile was tugging at the corner of her mouth, Tom just knew it. "Your lips say no, but your eyes say yes," he said smoothly. Kathryn leaned toward him and let the smile cover her mouth now.

"My lips say to the brig if you ever so much as hint at dating me again. Is that clear?"

  
Tom Paris sighed, looking at his list of prospective dates. The senior staff needed work. A lot of work. But hey, he had a lot of time to practice and to find out just which buttons to push. But in the meantime...

"Hi Tom, am I late?"

He looked up and smiled into the beautiful face of Tal Celes. "No, of course not. I'd've waited for you forever." Tal blushed prettily and giggled before taking a seat. Tom pocketed his list for later. Time for some practice.

* * *

 

_Two: Prank War!_

"Now, there'll be three teams, organized by color. Blue against red against gold. Nothing violent, mind you, just a harmless prank war." Tom looked out over the assembled crew, who were taking to the idea rather well and already starting to sidle toward their own color. As well they should, he thought proudly. It'd taken him more loops than he cared to admit to find just the right approach to get everyone to agree. "The war starts now. Go!" The crew swarmed like ants to congregate with their colors and Tom smiled evilly. Perfect.

  
Over the next few hours, things on Voyager got very crazy very fast. Someone not only reprogrammed the EMH to wear a gold uniform, but also turned him bright purple. Yet another anonymous someone reprogrammed the replicators so that everything they produced was a nice shade of science blue. Some brilliant person translated the computer core briefly into High Vulcan. Aside from reprogramming systems, more traditional pranks such as saran wrapping the mess hall doors and short-sheeting Commander Chakotay's bed were performed. All in all, it was great fun.

  
Finally some bright spark replicated a water pistol and started an ambush squad. In no time everyone on board was armed with their own newly replicated (bright blue) water guns and an all-out war started. Tom paired up with Captain Janeway and they stole down the halls together on cat-feet, preying on unsuspecting blue and gold team members. The captain had been reluctant to start this, but Tom had divined just the right technique to use on her and now the professional lady captain was giggling like a little girl as she and her helmsman got the drop on Neelix and Harry as they came out of a turbolift.

  
The war was ultimately a draw, of course, as there was no real way to determine a winner. But throughout the night whispers of the victories of one team or another could be heard floating around the ship. Tom smiled as he listened, wishing that the crew didn't have to forget all the fun they'd had.

* * *

 

_Three: Shuttle Race._

"On your mark..." Tom paused dramatically. "Get set..." He stopped again and Harry's frustrated voice snapped at him from the comm. "Get on with it!"

"Go!"

The shuttles shot forward from the starting buoy and began their race. The track was relatively simple: Start at the buoy, race to Voyager, then go around Voyager and make it back to the buoy first. There may have been a slight asteroid field to go through, but that was incidental. Tom was piloting the _Delta Flyer_ , but the rules stated the use of impulse engines only to be fairer on the other racers: Harry Kim, flying the _Sacajawea_ , Neelix in his _Baxial_ , Chakotay aboard the _Cochrane_ , B'Elanna Torres in the _O'Donnell_ , Pablo Baytart piloting the _Tersehkova_ , and Sue Nicoletti in the _Earhart_.

With a jolt Tom realized that he was actually running third to Baytart and Nicoletti. "No way," he grunted, gunning the engines and swerving around Pablo to take second, then lead. He whooped triumphantly as the ships weaved through the small field of scattered space rocks and swung around their mothership.

"Watch where you're flying, Starfleet," B'Elanna shouted. "That was my port nacelle you almost hit!" Paris almost apologized to her before he realized that she was actually cursing at Harry, who was bringing the _Sacajawea_ around her to take third behind Nicoletti. He grinned ferally and muttered, "I don't think so," before kicking up the engines once again.

Places changed once or twice more, but Nicoletti was a pretty steady second. Chakotay was in third by the time they were in shouting distance of the finish line. Mentally, Tom was already taking a victory spin in the _Flyer_. Without warning, the engines died. He immediately lost his lead. He glared at his panel in disbelief: Overheated plasma? He yelped in dismay as Nicoletti neatly took the win. The _Flyer_ was able to coast to second, but still, outdone by overheated plasma? His frustration was not at all helped by Chakotay's offer.

"Hey, best two out of three?"

* * *

 

_Four: Trade places for a day._

This took even longer to orchestrate than the prank war had. Getting everyone on the ship, especially the senior staff, to trade places with each other for one hour, much less one day, was like pulling teeth from a drunk and angry Klingon warrior. Bad news all around. Tom considered the day that he pulled it off to be the most productive thing he'd done since this stupid loop started. And that included all the loops he'd spent with Janeway and B'Elanna trying to figure a way out.

Kes and Janeway. An interesting swap, but nothing too drastic. It irked Kathryn to be in sickbay playing nurse with the Doctor, who kept up a constant stream of complaints about the unfairness of the fact that he couldn't participate in the game because of his unfortunate captivity in his domain. Kes got a kick out of playing captain though, and it was worth it to see her giggling in delight when Tuvok called her captain.

Chakotay and Tuvok. One of the most boring swaps of the entire ship. All the two of them had to do was stand in a different place. Tuvok had been Janeway's right hand for a long time, and sitting second chair to Kes was no big deal to him. In truth, the Vulcan was silently grateful he didn't get anything really crazy. Chakotay was mildly annoyed that he didn't score a more exciting swap, but hey, he got to fire the weapons, so that raised his spirits considerably.

Kim and Neelix. Possibly the most fun trade of the day. Harry tackled the galley with a certain amount of demented glee and got very inventive with leola root and talaxian tomatoes, among other things. Not many people could tell what they were eating, but everyone agreed that it tasted great. Neelix took over Harry's post at Ops with the same eagerness, only to find that when everything was peaceful and as it should be, manning the bridge could get really boring really fast. His attempts at a bridge-wide singalong didn't help either.

Paris and Torres. Tom was highly amused by the trade between himself and B'Elanna. She initially flat refused to have him running amuck in her engine room, but after much pleading and coaxing and promises of not touching a single thing, she agreed. Granted, she left him with a book of instructions and ordered Vorik and Carey to shoot him if he so much as flicked over a dilithium crystal, but what was that in the scheme of things. Tom was much more concerned about that madwoman flying his ship!

* * *

 

_Five: Scavenger Hunt!_

Since Tom Paris had organized the ship-wide scavenger hunt, he couldn't really take part, which was disappointing. He did take the liberty of wandering around and checking up on everyone else's status. Everyone had paired into teams and most seemed to be making good headway. He caught a couple of ensigns trying to cheat by replicating some of the required items and quickly put a hold on any attempts to replicate any of the things on his list.

He ran into Kes and Neelix, who had their heads bent together in deep conference about something. Tom craned his neck to see over their shoulders. Neelix shot him a look. "What were you thinking with this list?" the Talaxian asked in exasperation. "Where are we supposed to find enough paper for a paper airplane? No one keeps paper anymore?" Paris shrugged at him just as Kes' head snapped up with an idea. "We could use the back pages of some of Crewman Grimes' old books. Come on!"

Tom caught up with Chakotay and B'Elanna next. They were in the middle of harvesting a blossom from one of Kes' Ocampan poppies. The unfortunate plant looked pretty rough: both it and its sister plants had been all but stripped of their flowers. Tom winced, grateful for the loop for once. If Kes ever saw this, she'd have a first class fit. B'Elanna turned around with their prize and caught sight of him watching. She looked hopeful, then saw the playful look in his eyes and scowled. "If you're not going to help us, go bother somebody else!"

Harry and Vorik ran him down on the way to the turbolift to ask him about finding 'hair of a dog'. Tom quirked an eyebrow and checked their list. That wasn't what he'd put on there. He smiled when he saw that they'd misunderstood. "Hair of _the_ dog, Harry." Kim gave him a bewildered look and Tom turned to Vorik. "Come on, you know the answer. Hair of the dog that-" "Bit me!" yelled Harry triumphantly, dashing off for the mess hall. Vorik followed at a slightly more sedate pace, still trying to get his head around the answer.

When Tom got back to the hangar deck, where he'd set up the judging table, he was surprised (although he thought he shouldn't have been) to find two teams already back and waiting on him. Janeway and Tuvok and Tal and Telfer. Kathryn had a confident smile on her face, but Billy and Celes were still rifling through their stack of booty, making absolutely sure they had everything. When the four saw Tom, they descended on him in a swarm. Laughing at the assault, Tom walked over to assess their catch.

* * *

 

_Six: Food fight!_

Tom Paris sat and thought about his work that day. It hadn't turned out like he'd thought it would. He had always, always, wanted to start a food fight in the mess hall of a starship. And what better opportunity than a time loop? Tom had been occupied with other goals and never really made time for the food fight. But today the perfect opportunity had presented itself and Tom seized the day.

B'Elanna had been holding forth at lunch about some sensor modifications that she was doing to help diagnose the loop (this was one of Tom's now very few loops in which he told everyone what was up) and it was boring Tom to tears. Mostly because he'd already heard it all. He twirled his pasta around his fork and muttered, "Every loop is the same, B'Elanna, no matter what you do, it never changes!" She opened her mouth to snap just as he picked up his fork.

Tom looked at the fork, then at B'Elanna, and flicked the forkful of pasta onto her face. Torres gaped at him, tomato sauce running down her cheek. Tom smirked at her. "Should've tried that ages ago," he remarked. B'Elanna gave him a mutinous glare and forked her own load of pasta. She threw it at Tom, but as the helmsman ducked, the payload sailed straight into the back of Harry Kim's head. The ops ensign turned slowly and revealed the spoonful of pudding in his hand. Tom grinned. "Oh, it is so on."

By the time Tuvok and Chakotay and Janeway got there, the mess hall was an all-out war zone of food. Chakotay got as far as entering the room and opening his mouth before being hit in the face by flying pudding. Tuvok got slightly farther, managing to make it at least into the galley before being laid out with a cake. Janeway finally put a stop to it with a furious shout of "WHAT IS GOING ON DOWN HERE?" Everyone froze. The captain stood there like an avenging angel, hair dripping with tomato sauce and face smudged with alfredo, waiting for some explanation. Without a word every eye went to Tom Paris. The helmsman, with a pie in one hand and a tomato in the other, had no excuse other than: "Parley?"

Tom sighed and looked up at the ceiling of the brig. Who knew food fighting was a punishable crime on the good ship Voyager? He checked the chronometer. Seven more hours of this until he looped again, he saw with a groan. Nope, this day had not turned out like he'd thought at all.

* * *

 

_Seven: Day off for everybody._

This was something Tom saved for the very last. After all of his fun, after all the loops in which he tormented, teased, and played around with the crew, he wanted to give them a single day in which nobody had to do anything. Convincing the captain hadn't been very hard: she agreed that they were all under stress and could use an off day. No one had any duties or any obligations. Just goof off and have fun.

Tom wandered, trying to find someone with which to relax. Unfortunately, everybody else was preoccupied with their own plans. He spotted Captain Janeway on the way to the holodeck with her hair done up nicely wearing a period gown, so he guessed that she was off for some fun. It only mildly shocked him to see Chakotay in a matching suit follow her inside a few moments later. Lots of people had taken time for dates; Kes and Neelix being not the least of these. Neelix had taken her out for some apparently long overdue privacy in the _Baxial_.

Not everyone paired off, though. Tom found the EMH doing some painting in sickbay and Tuvok hadn't been seen since that morning, when he'd declared that he would be spending the day meditating. Harry Kim was Tom's best hope, but the young ensign had been roped into the Voyager chess team's impromptu tournament. Tom was invited to join, but he made some excuse and got out of there. He was starting to think the whole 'day off' thing hadn't been one of his best ideas.

Bored for the first time in who knew how long, Tom found his feet taking him to the hangar deck where the _Flyer_ sat. Maybe he'd take her for a spin. To his surprise, B'Elanna Torres was already there. She looked up when he entered. "It's about time," she greeted him. "Come on, let's go." Tom shook his head in disbelief, but got into the ship. "I thought we'd get out of this crazy house for a little while," Torres explained as she punched out of the bay. Tom looked over at her and they shared a smile. Okay, maybe not such an awful idea after all.


	5. Chapter 5

_Chakotay to Paris._

Tom didn't even bother answering the first officer this time. He simply burrowed further under his pillows and tried not to think about what was happening to him. The time loop had been fun at first. He'd gotten to play and goof off and do all kinds of crazy things he'd never normally do.

Eventually, though, even Tom Paris' imagination ran down and he was at a loss for anything to do. But still the day kept looping around and around and around. It was starting to drive him a little nuts. He'd taken to simply staying in his quarters all day.

Janeway had sent him to the Doctor on more than one occasion to see if the EMH could discover the cause, but the Doctor was at a loss. To everyone else, Tom's depression had come out of nowhere. Only he knew the reason for his loss of hope. There was no point in telling anyone else, no one could help. Tom was ready to try anything to get out of this loop, but nothing ever seemed to work.

_Paris, are you there?_

He moaned and curled up into a tiny ball of misery under his covers. "Tom Paris is dead today," he told Chakotay. "Please try back some other time." Tom realized then that when he said he'd do anything to get free, he really meant _anything_.

* * *

 

Tom was determined not to try anything too drastic without having explored every other viable option. Many hundreds of ideas had been formed and rejected in the past loops, but he'd never done this before. Paris walked around the _Delta Flyer_ one more time, completing his pre-flight check. He figured that since the _Flyer_ was also doused in chronitons, she too was exempt from the neverending round of this day. So maybe they could get away together.

Running away was his next-to-last option to break out of the loop. If he could just take the _Flyer_ far enough away to get out of range of whatever was happening, if he could live through a few days in which something _different_ happened, maybe then he could come up with a way to save his ship. After he saved his sanity.

Tom glided the small ship out of the hangar bay and pointedly ignored the frantic shouts from the comm asking why he was doing this. Voyager's tractor beam frightened him for a minute, but his skills were no match for Tuvok's and he easily avoided being captured. He was away at last, and no one was going to stop him.

Happy as Tom was to be doing something different, he still felt a twinge of guilt over leaving his crew stranded. To live the same day over and over a thousand thousand times without knowing it... Tom shuddered, grateful for once that he knew what was going on and that he could help to save them.

He flew a straight course back the way they'd come. There was no guarantee that whatever was causing it wasn't behind them, but Tom guessed that familiar ground was safer than the undiscovered country. He stayed awake for as long as he could, then switched to autopilot so that the _Flyer_ would keep on running while he slept.

Tom Paris awoke the next morning to his own bed on Voyager and a persistently nagging first officer in his ear. He laid there in shock, stunned that his plan hadn't worked. How could it not? How? Chakotay called to him over and over again, but Tom didn't listen. He just rolled over, put his face in his hands, and cried for the first time in years.

* * *

 

There was no escaping this thing alive, Tom told himself. Alive. That was the key. Perhaps, if he died, then at last he could have some peace. He'd even thought that maybe he was the reason the loop continued at all. Maybe with him gone, everyone else could move on. Tom had been through some pretty bad spots in his life, but he'd never, ever, been suicidal before. But now death was the only way out that he could see. Death was easier in many ways than a life on a hamster wheel of time. Tom looked down and contemplated what he held in his hands. Pills or a phaser?

Thus began the dark days, as Tom forever after thought of them. Usually, though, he tried not to think about the many ways he tried to kill himself in the next dozen or so loops. He tried many poisons, dematerializing himself using the transporter, phasers and knives, blowing himself up, scores of holodeck programs with the safeties off... Any way his overactive imagination could think of was used to terminate his existence and still he looped. Every morning he awoke to die again. Nothing ever changed except the manner of his short-lived death.

At last, Tom Paris ended it. He didn't want to die another day. There was no point in doing it over and over if nothing ever worked. Tom was reduced to a wreck of himself, ghosting around the ship and looking through people who spoke to him with dull eyes. Living like this was no life at all. It was a hell in which he was granted no release. Was it any better for these poor souls, the ones who had no idea what was happening to them? Or were they just as desperate as he, in their own way?

Paris knew only one thing was left to try. And if it didn't work... Well, he didn't want to think about that.

* * *

 

Paris sat at a table in the mess hall, hands wrapped loosely around a mug of coffee, staring into space. He looked like death warmed over, he knew that. He hadn't even bothered with a uniform, simply walking here in his pajamas after doing his evil deed for the day. Harry Kim sat down and eyed him warily. "Hey."

"Hey, Harry," Tom replied listlessly. "How goes the fight?"

"Alright," said Kim cautiously. "What about you? How are you doing?"

Tom chuckled softly, because the answer was so obvious. "I'm terrible, Harry. Want to know why?" He never did this anymore, never told anyone what was happening to them. But maybe talking to someone again would be nice.

"Sure, what's up?" asked the young ensign in concern. He leaned forward, interested in Tom's story already.

So Tom told him. He told him the story of a lieutenant who'd slept late for his shift and found that in the night his world had doubled back on itself. He told the story of the hundreds of loops he'd been through: the tries at solving the problems, the goofy fun he'd had, and even all the ways he'd tried to end it all. Harry was a captivated listener, eyes wide with fascinated horror.

"Nothing works?" he said when Tom finished. He started to panic a little. "We're going to be stuck like this forever?"

"Relax, Harry," Tom soothed him. "I've got one more trick up my sleeve. If this doesn't get us loose, well..." He shrugged and drank the last of his coffee.

The Ops officer caught a tone in Tom's voice and looked up at him. He had a really bad feeling about this trick of Tom's. "Tom, what did you do?"

Before the conn officer could answer, Janeway's voice came over the comm. "All hands, report to escape pods. I repeat, all hands report to escape pods. This is not a drill. Report to escape pods immediately."

Harry hit his badge quickly. "Captain, this is Kim. What's going on?"

"It's the self destruct, Harry. It's set to go in three minutes and we can't seem to shut it down."

The ensign looked back at Paris, who hadn't moved a muscle even as the hall had quickly emptied of people. Harry felt his heart thud to a stop at the dead, distant look in Tom's eyes. His friend had gone crazy, and now he was going to kill them all. "I'm coming," he told the captain and dashed out of the hall.

"See you later, Harry," Tom Paris said to an empty room as the ship started to shake apart around him. "Well, scratch that. I hope I never see you again." Then he put his head down on the table and waited for the fire that would consume the entire ship and maybe, finally, end this cursed loop.

* * *

 

_Chakotay to Paris._


	6. Chapter 6

_Kes to Paris._

Well, that was new at least. Nonetheless, Tom stayed in bed and pretended to sleep. He was currently testing out a theory that maybe, if he didn't get up all day long, then the day wouldn't actually be happening. It was a sign of how far gone he was that he actually sort of thought it might work.

_Tom, it's Kes, I'm outside your quarters. The captain wanted me to check on you. Let me in, please._

Tom didn't answer her. He didn't want to be disturbed, least of all by Kes. He should have known that this would happen. When a crewman doesn't report for duty and doesn't answer any inquiries, usually he's either sick or an alien is messing with his head. Either way, medical help is recommended.

Tom heard Kes speak briefly to Tuvok, then the doors to his quarters swished open. Security override, he should have known that too. He didn't open his eyes, but he heard her walk to his side and kneel next to the bed. "Tom? Tom, are you awake?"

She produced a medical tricorder and began to scan him. He knew he couldn't keep up the charade when she was scanning, so Tom moaned and cracked his eyes open. She smiled down at him and he couldn't resist a tiny smile back. She looked so pretty, he mused. An angel in his little hell. A blonde angel...

The penny that had been poised ever since the looping began finally dropped. Pieces, random thoughts and observations, that Tom had made and forgotten fell together and he finally got it. With a yell that made Kes squeal in fright, Tom leaped out of bed and charged out of his room. He knew what was causing it! He was right, he had to be!

He bounded into the corridor and ran up to an engineering ensign lounging against the wall. "You've been standing here for the past fifteen minutes, right? Have you seen a blonde science crewman walk by?" The ensign just stared at the apparently crazy man assaulting him. "Science crewman, blonde woman, did you see her?" Tom pressed urgently.

The young man shook his head nervously. "N-no, sir, no science women have been by this way." Tom whooped in triumph and took off for the turbolift. People either got out of his way or were run down. Everyone who passed him heard his disjointed muttering: "Solved it, solved it, engineering, people who aren't in the same place twice, engineering, solved it, finally!"

* * *

 

Kathryn Janeway, Chakotay, and Tuvok entered engineering in response to B'Elanna's urgent call to 'get down here before Paris kills somebody!' They found a mob of people crowded around Tom Paris. Who had a crewman by the throat, pinning him against the wall. "Mr. Paris, stand down!" Janeway exclaimed immediately upon taking in the situation.

"Can't, Captain," Tom replied, never taking his eyes from his prey's face. "Not until he lets us go."

"Lets us go?" Chakotay echoed. "What are you talking about?"

"This ship's stuck in a time loop," Tom explained. "This day's been repeating over and over again about a million times and I want it stopped!" he growled the last bit at the man he held, tightening his grip threateningly. Everyone in the crowd stepped forward reflexively, wanting to save the man before the lunatic Paris did something drastic.

"Don't hurt him!" a voice cried out. The mob parted to let a slender woman in a red uniform through to Tom's side. "Please, let him go," she pleaded. Tom glanced at her, then looked back again in shock. It was the woman he'd run into on the first day.

"You!"

"Yes," she said. "Please don't hurt him. We really didn't mean any harm." Tom released the man he'd been holding and the crewman wasted no time in scampering to the blonde woman's side.

Janeway came closer. "What is going on here?"

"My name is Elen, First Minister of the Tilowa Science Council," the woman said, inclining her head to the Captain. "We're very sorry to have disturbed your people, Captain Janeway." Elen turned and addressed the entire crowd. "Tom is right. You have all been looping in time. That is how Tilowans study other cultures: by trapping a single day in a loop."

"To study the culture without changing variables," Janeway supplied thoughtfully. Elen smiled and nodded at her.

"Precisely, Captain. Your ship is a wonder to us, we could not help but study you. You were never meant to know and you would have been allowed to continue when we were through with our study." Her eyes traveled to Tom. "But there was a variable we did not expect."

Tom's heart sank. "Me," he said glumly. "You didn't expect me to know about it."

"No," Elen confirmed. "We'd never met anyone immune to our time technology."

"So you just kept it going, around and around, seeing what new things I'd try every day," Tom whispered, feeling sick. He'd been right. He was the reason the loop had continued after all. Elen nodded and Tom bowed his head in shame. "What happens now?" he asked in a small voice. He was half afraid she would say that the loop would just keep going. He didn't think he could handle that.

"Our laws dictate that if our presence is ever discovered, we have to abandon the project." Elen looked sorrowful, but resigned. "A pity, but a necessity. Your ship has been released. Again, we're terribly sorry for the inconvenience."

"Inconvenience is the understatement of the year," Tom muttered.

"Wait," Janeway said urgently. "Stay. Maybe we can continue to learn about each other."

Elen shook her head. "I'm sorry, Captain. It can't be done." She lifted her hand and spoke briefly into a communications band on her wrist. Then, without a sound, Elen, the man with her, and several other people from around the deck disappeared. And that was very much that.

The crowd slowly began to disperse, talking animatedly about the encounter. Chakotay snagged Tom's arm as he tried to make a discreet getaway. "We're going to need to have a very long talk, Lieutenant," the first officer said.

"But first," the captain cut in, "perhaps Mr. Paris could change out of his pajamas?"

* * *

 

Tom Paris didn't really want to be in this briefing, because he only half believed Elen that the looping was over. However, the captain insisted on him filling in the senior staff on what that whole experience had been all about, so Tom was compelled to tell the whole sorry story over again. With the craziness conveniently edited, just to be on the safe side.

"How did you discover the cause of the repetition?" Tuvok asked after Tom caught up to that morning. The lieutenant sighed and looked longingly at his long-empty coffee cup as if he could will it to magically refill itself. No such luck.

"On the very first loop, I walked out of my quarters and ran into Elen, wearing a science uniform. That never happened again. There were other people who weren't in the same place loop after loop. I noticed, but never put it together until this morning. Kes triggered my memory." He and Neelix both smiled proudly at the Ocampan woman.

"My thought was that if there were other people immune to the loop, and who weren't as... well, as freaked out as I was, then they must be causing it." Tom shrugged self-consciously. "I knew I could find at least one of them down in engineering. I guess I went a little crazy," he said sheepishly. "Sorry about that."

Janeway nodded thoughtfully. "It's alright, Tom. You got us out. Good work, Lieutenant. We owe you a debt of thanks, it seems."

"Not hardly," Tom snorted. "If it hadn't been for me, it never would have lasted as long as it did."

"But if it wasn't for you, we may never have gotten out at all," the captain pointed out. "So thank you, Tom." She stood up, causing the rest of the room to do the same. "I still expect a full incident report," she told him firmly. "But for now, dismissed."


	7. Chapter 7

Tom Paris went from asleep to awake in an instant. He lay perfectly still, analyzing his situation. Something was very wrong here. Something was missing. Tom's eyes flicked around the room in a quick inventory. Everything was as it should be. Then he realized what was wrong. Or rather, what was right.

He didn't hear Chakotay.

The hope he'd been suppressing for time out of mind sparked again, much as he tried to tell himself it was probably in vain. He sat up slowly. "Computer, what's today's stardate?" he asked, reflexively bracing for the same old, same old.

_Stardate 49383.4_

"Yes!" Tom hollered, throwing his hands in the air in jubilation. Elen kept her word! Voyager was free! Paris could honestly never remember being happier in his life. He hastily tugged on his uniform and headed out for the bridge. He was late for his shift, of course, but he really didn't care this time.

People were always staring at Tom Paris, but they did so even more today. The blond lieutenant bounced down the corridors, singing very loudly with a goofy grin plastered on his face.

_Oh, what a beautiful morning!_   
_Oh, what a beautiful day!_   
_I've got a beautiful feeling...!_

He trailed off dramatically, grabbed the passing Tal Celes, and dipped her into a sound kiss. After a second or two, he let her go and continued on his way. Tal collapsed dazedly against the wall and watched Tom Paris entered the turbolift, still singing.

_Everything's going my way!_

* * *

 

Tom burst onto the bridge and announced, "Sorry I'm late!" He smiled brightly at everyone and made his way down to relieve Baytart at the conn. "You should've called me. That said, thank you so much for leaving me alone." He sat down and looked over his shoulder at Chakotay. "If I never hear 'Chakotay to Paris' again, it'll be too soon."

He turned back and concentrated on his work. The first officer smirked slyly and his hand strayed toward his comm badge. Janeway gave him a mock stern glare and Chakotay desisted with a roll of his eyes.

"So, Tom, how does it feel to be back to normal again?" Harry asked conversationally. Business as usual continued on the bridge, but Tom was perfectly aware that everyone was eavesdropping on their conversation.

"It's nice. I mean, the loop was fun for the first dozen or so times, but after a while it got really old. I'm happy to get back in the saddle again, do normal stuff, fly the ship into some new territory, scan new things..."

"Explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations?" Harry added helpfully.

"Preferably new life that doesn't trap you in endless time loops," said Tom with an overly theatrical (though not entirely fake) shudder.

"I've been wondering something," the Ops officer said thoughtfully. "What'd you do during the loops, when you weren't working on a way out? Knowing you, things got pretty crazy."

Tom chuckled wryly. "Funny. You were actually the one who gave me the idea to get crazy."

"Really?" Harry seemed to be pleased at that information. However, he wasn't deterred from his question. "So...what'd you do?"

Paris' eyes flicked to the command officers briefly before returning to his control panel. He didn't want to give away too much because he didn't relish the idea of Janeway towering over him thundering 'You did WHAT on my SHIP?!" So he stuck to the basics, a much safer option. "Not much. Went on some dates. Played around on the holodeck. Shuttle race. Scavenger hunt. Stuff." He shrugged nonchalantly. "I kind of want to apologize, though, for the... the thing with the..."

He trailed off, smiling to himself as everyone on the bridge unconciously strained forward to hear the end of his sentence. They were destined for disappointment. There was a beat, then Harry prompted, "The thing with the what?"

"Oh, nothing. Forget I said anything."

"No, I want to know. What thing with the what?"

"Nothing, Harry, really, forget it."

"Tom."

"Harry."

"Gentlemen," Janeway cut in. Her tone was firm, but she was smiling at Paris' obvious baiting of his friend. Kim subsided, but Tom could tell from his look that this conversation definitely wasn't over yet. Tom welcomed it.

Silence reigned on the bridge for a while. Nothing interesting happened, which meant nothing dangerous happened, which was a mercy. Tom was pleased to immerse himself in the normalcy and forget that he'd lived yesterday over and over a zillion times. Unfortunately, some people just kept bringing it up!

"Hey Tom, you notice what today is?" This from Harry, whose dancing eyes indicated that there was a joke in here somewhere.

"Stardate 49383.4?"

"No, the day. It's February third."

Tom smacked his forehead against his console. That had honestly never occurred to him. "Of course it is," he muttered sarcastically.

"What is the significance of the day?" Tuvok inquired curiously.

"If today is February third," Harry explained, "then yesterday was February second."

"And?" Chakotay asked, still not understanding. Tom swiveled around to face him.

"Which means the day that was looping? It was Groundhog Day."


End file.
